NASA principals display a signed coalition agreement. [Photo/ 411 News]
The National Super Alliance (NASA) coalition principals, especially Ford Kenya leader Moses Wetangula, owe the people of Mt Kenya an apology for making a reckless statement. Mr Wetangula, a NASA pentagon member, recently said that should the coalition ascend to power in August, they will stop all development projects in Mt Kenya region until “other parts of Kenya catches up”. It is not true that Central Kenya counties have benefitted more than other regions during President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration. For some reason, Raila has cancelled his tour of Nyeri, Laikipia and Kiambu in a series of campaigns. Maybe he is afraid of facing the people after that divisive message. But it is expected that he will return to the vote-rich region sometime in the near future. The issue he must address is why the people there should choose NASA when it plans to marginalize them in development. For starters, many parts of Central Kenya are not any different from other parts of the country — they all complain of the same issues. For example, while the Jubilee administration has developed many roads, some areas in his home county of Kiambu, for example, still have very bad roads. It should not be forgotten that sometime back, Kabete MP Ferdinand Waititu asked voters in his constituency to elect President Kenyatta only after he has fixed poor roads in the area. It is worth noting that most of the newly built roads in the country are not in Central Kenya. Popular blogger Pauline Njoroge is surprised that NASA is even planning to face the people of Mt Kenya region after that alienation declaration. “They plan to relegate us to the gutter. So what exactly are they coming to do in the region? Or they just want to hold rallies, meetings etc and remind us that they have no agenda for us?” she asks in a Facebook post. Kenya’s greatest infrastructure project, the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), will not pass through Central Kenya — even after it’s completed (final destination is Kisumu). How can anyone claim that the project is meant to benefit the people of Mt Kenya only? One of the major achievements of the Jubilee administration is connecting homes and institutions to electricity. That has been done everywhere the country, without any discrimination — just like all other projects. It is hard to put a finger on a region that has benefitted more from that initiative more than any other. What Mr Mudavadi, or any other NASA leader, fails to say when calling for the unconstitutional sidelining of a part of the country in development is to identify the sectors where Central Kenya has benefitted more than other regions. You know why they don’t mention any? Because none exists.